Dead Ringer Records confirms September 23 as the first-time U.S. release of Daudi Baldrs and Hlidskjalf, recordings by controversial Norwegian band BURZUM. Each will feature original artwork as created by Stephen O’Malley (EMPEROR) and pressed as originally released by Misanthropy Records in the latter ’90s.
The “colorful” history of BURZUM always marks the start of any conversation regarding this controversial yet highly sought after recording legacy. And while ten years on from the height of the media frenzy surrounding band leader/creator, Count Grishnackh, his albums have attained a worldwide cult status ??" some of this interest on sheer curiosity behind the myth and others on what many consider musical genius.
The early BURZUM years facilitated the rise of the initial wave of Norwegian black metal. It was in this period that the world would come to bear witness to the initial trinity of recordings. Each set a standard that, alongside DARKTHRONE, early MAYHEM and the initial recordings from EMPEROR, remain today as genre-setting sounds. It is in the second period that Grishnackh began to experiment more with not only sound but a growing musical conception that would travel far beyond the barriers of metal. Reaching further into the realms of ambient, dark wave and electronica, Grishnackh infused the savagery of his blasphemous metal offerings with the complex throes of synthesizers and computer-assisted musical composition. This second period, or what is intended to represent BURZUM’s later trilogy, have all been recorded from inside the prison walls that have surrounded him near eleven years.
Originally released in 1997, Daudi Baldrs (Threat of Baldrs) is an album that found BURZUM escaping to a myriad of neoclassical inspirations. Its minimal use of keyboards resulted in an archaic song style that lent naturally to the story of the betrayed Norse god.
Following in 1999, Hlidskjalf submerged itself in the rising interest of ambient/electronica ??" now the focal sounds of MORTIIS and found embedded in countless metal albums unafraid to venture out of metal’s often-times limiting parameters. The album’s title refers to Odin’s throne, upon which he would view the world.